MSC Cruises announced on Thursday it will extend its cruise suspensions through July 31, 2020, along with sharing its plans to resume shorter-term operations for winter 2020/21 season in phases and by region only when the time will be right and following guidance from the relevant national and international health and other regulatory authorities.
MSC also reconfirmed its March – November 2021 program, which will include two new ships currently under construction and a series of new or enriched itineraries and homeports, including a new home for MSC Divina in Central Florida.
Key highlights of MSC Cruises Spring-Summer-Fall 2021 program, which features all 17 vessels currently part of the Company’s fleet as well as the two new ships currently still under construction, MSC Virtuosa and MSC Seashore, for a total of 19.
The cruise line plans to announce shortly the support of a new operating protocol focused on health and safety, covering the guest cruise experience from booking to disembarkation.
Caribbean Sailings
MSC Meraviglia will offer 7-night cruises from Miami, Florida departing every Saturday, while MSC Armonia will offer new 3- and 4-night getaway cruises, also from Miami, departing on Mondays and Fridays and calling at Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve.
MSC Divina will sail for the first time from Port Canaveral, Florida – a new homeport for MSC Cruises – and offer a mix of 3-, 4- and 7-night cruises departing on Sundays and Thursdays.
Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve will remain a key highlight of cruises in the Caribbean, with all three ships calling at the private island destination in The Bahamas.
Western Mediterranean Sailings
Three ships will sail the Western Mediterranean, MSC Seaside, MSC Seaview and MSC Seashore.
MSC Seashore will now come into service August 1, 2021 due to the delay caused by the temporary closure of the shipyard as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and for this period, MSC Fantasia will temporarily cover her itinerary (with guests receiving a shipboard credit of €100 for this change). MSC Seashore will have the highest ratio of outdoor space per guest of any ship in MSC Cruises’ fleet and will offer the popular ‘Six Pearls’ itinerary calling the Italian cities of Genoa and, visits to Pompeii, Naples; Messina, Sicily; Valletta, Malta; Barcelona, Spain and Marseille, France.
She will be joined by sister ships MSC Seaside and MSC Seaview in their Genoa homeport and operate ever-popular 7-night cruises that sail the world’s most glamorous sea. The Company will also return to Tunisia in August when MSC Fantasia performs 7-night cruises from Genoa calling at Marseille, Barcelona, the port of La Goulette in Tunis, Palermo and Civitavecchia.
Nine to 12-night cruises will also be available from Genoa, Italy in late summer to Morocco, the Canary Islands, Madeira and Portugal, Greece and Israel with MSC Poesia calling in the beautiful port of Haifa.
Eastern Mediterranean Sailings
New for summer 2021, MSC Lirica will be deployed from Venice, Italy and will also offer embarkation in the northern Italian port of Trieste, calling on Zadar, Dubrovnik and Split in Croatia; Kotor, Montenegro and Corfu in Greece.
In addition, MSC Musica, MSC Orchestra, MSC Opera and MSC Sinfonia, will offer 7-night itineraries also departing from Venice and calling the Greek islands, Montenegro and Croatia.
Northern Europe
From May 8, MSC Virtuosa will spend her first summer season with 7- to 14-night cruises from the German port of Kiel, alternating between the fjords and the Baltic capitals, with all itineraries offering embarkation in both Kiel and Copenhagen, Denmark.
MSC Splendida will said Norway's fjords and visit Baltic capitals on 7-night to 14-night (back to back) itineraries. She will also offer longer 10- and 11-night cruises to the Baltic capitals or North Cape.
MSC Magnifica will homeport in Southampton, UK and offer 7-night itineraries to the magical fjords of Norway, 14-nights to the Baltic capitals or the Mediterranean in mid-August, 12-nights to the Canary Islands and a 7-night cruise calling the “Northern Pearls” of Hamburg, Germany; Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Zeebrugge, Belgium and Le Havre, France.
MSC Preziosa will offer from 9- to 14-night itineraries from Hamburg with destinations in Ireland, Iceland and North Cape and Spitzbergen in Norway.
Matt Hochberg
Matt loves to cruise, and started Cruise.Blog as a place to share different cruise experiences, advice, and what to know before going on a cruise.
He lives in Florida with his wife and two daughters, where he can be found on any given day trying to convince his wife they "need" to book another cruise.
